Tech entrepreneurs replace real estate tycoons as political advisers in China’s push for IT edge
Almost every new face among the 2,158 delegates debuting as advisers in the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference hails from a technology firm
Technology entrepreneurs are having a stronger presence in China’s political scene like never before, underscoring the ambitious programme by the government of the world’s second-largest economy to gain an edge in every technological field from artificial intelligence to big data and robotics.
Almost every new face making their debut as advisers representing the business sector of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, as the 2,158-member advisory body in the bicameral legislature is called, hails from a technology company. They are supplanting property tycoons, senior cadres of state-owned industries and princelings - as the children of revolutionaries who helped the Communist Party gain power in 1949 are called.
“The move reflects the party’s commitment to economic transformation based on industrial upgrading and technological innovation,” said Sun Xin, lecturer in Chinese and East Asian business at the King’s College in London. “Traditional sectors such as real estate and energy are often deemed to be closely associated with corruption. With the party’s anti-corruption effort still running strong, there’s less enthusiasm about nominating new candidates from the related sectors.”